Washington's Michael Penix Jr. 'Willing to Do Whatever it Takes to Be Great' in NFL

Michael Penix Jr. might not be projected to be a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft, but the former Washington quarterback is ready to do whatever it takes to succeed at the next level.

"I can't control other people's perspectives or how they view me as a quarterback," Penix said when asked if he's frustrated about still having to prove himself to evaluators, per ESPN's Pete Thamel and Jeff Legwold. "For me, I just got to continue to be myself and continue to work hard each and every day to show them that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be great, and I belong anywhere that I end up."

Penix began his college career at Indiana before transferring to Washington ahead of the 2022 campaign. He never completed a full season with the Hoosiers as he tore his ACL twice and suffered two shoulder injuries.

While evaluators have valid injury concerns regarding the Washington standout, Penix has been healthy in each of the last two seasons and has lit up the stat sheet as a result.

During the 2022 campaign, Penix completed 65.3 percent of his passes for 4,641 yards and 31 touchdowns against eight interceptions in 13 games.

He followed that up in 2023 having completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 4,903 yards and 36 touchdowns against 11 interceptions in 15 games. The Huskies finished the year 14-1, with their lone loss coming in the College Football Playoff national championship game to Michigan.

Penix told ESPN that Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache would be available throughout the draft process to talk with teams about his injury history and any concerns they might have. He added that ElAttrache gave him a "thumbs up," adding "there's nothing to hold me back."

Former USC quarterback Caleb Williams is widely considered the No. 1 quarterback available in the 2024 draft class, followed by former UNC signal-caller Drake Maye and former LSU standout Jayden Daniels.

The Bleacher Report NFL Scouting Department lists Penix as the fifth-best quarterback available this spring with Williams, Maye, Daniels and former Oregon signal-caller Bo Nix ranked ahead of him.

B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen wrote that Penix "isn't afraid to use his arm" and "also flashes the ability to handle pro concepts." However, he added that the quarterback "is largely unproven versus pressure" and "also has issues with accuracy, specifically adding touch to throws."

"For teams that want to chuck it down the field with a heavy dose of play action, Penix is an interesting dice roll. His live arm, aggressiveness and moments of progression passing give him a shot to stick in the NFL," Klassen wrote. "With that said, Penix's lack of touch, shaky pocket management and minimal ability to create plays will limit his ceiling in the pros."

Klassen has Penix being selected in the third round and graded him as a high-level backup/potential starter.